A New Beginning
by loveadubdub
Summary: Nineteen years after the end of Deathly Hallows, Ron and Hermione prepare to send their daughter off to start her own adventure at Hogwarts.


A New Beginning

All of this belongs to JK Rowling. Absolutely nothing belongs to me.

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"_Mum, _come on!"

Hermione looked around to see her daughter standing in the doorway of her bedroom, clearly irritated with her arms crossed over chest. The look on her face was one of exasperation.

"Rose, I told you," she said calmly, "Go downstairs and eat your breakfast."

"But when are you going to be finished?" Rose asked impatiently.

Hermione sighed and lowered her quill, laying it beside the legal provisions she was currently revising. "When I am _done," _she answered firmly. "Now _go."_

Rose rolled her eyes. "I'm going to be late to catch the train, but I guess _you _don't care about that, now do you?"

Hermione ignored her, not even bothering to reiterate for the seventeenth time that it was only 9:00 in the morning and that the trip to King's Cross would take thirty minutes at most. She was done arguing with her daughter. She refused to try and reason with the stubborn eleven year old anymore than she already had.

When Rose realized that she was going to get no response, she heaved a giant, loud sigh and stomped from the room. Hermione could hear the stomping as it continued down the stairs. She rolled her own eyes and went back to busying herself with her work. She'd been up all night working on these revisions and planned to drop them off at the Ministry after dropping Rose at the train station. In truth, she was nearly done, needing only to sign off on a few things. She could have told Rose this before, but she had refused to give her the satisfaction after her fit.

Rose had been a _nightmare _all month, shouting orders at her parents and little brother and making demands about anything and everything. She pitched huge fits every time she did not get her way, and if that didn't work, she huffed up and pouted. _Everything _had to be perfect and had to be exactly the way _she _wanted it, as _she _was the one going to school and _she _was the one who deserved every bit of attention from everyone.

Hermione was quite done with her at the moment.

Gathering up her papers, Hermione slid them into her bag and closed the flap before standing up and glancing in the mirror. She'd already caught a shower and changed clothes before the rest of the family woke up, but she could see from her reflection that she looked horrid, tired and cranky. Oh, well. That was her life these days- full and busy and absolutely _exhausting. _

She didn't think it would change any time soon.

Deciding that she'd better check Rose's trunk to make sure she had all of her necessities, she pulled her hair up into a loose bun and headed down the hallway toward the children's bedrooms. Rose's was at the very end of the hall, and Hermione pushed open the door and sighed to herself at the mess surrounding her. She remembered explicitly telling Rose to clean her room before she left. She was glad to see that her orders had been taken so seriously.

"She's in quite the mood this morning, isn't she?"

Hermione, who had not heard anyone approaching, turned around to see her husband standing behind her. He, too, looked quite tired, and his white shirt was spotted with something purple and sticky.

"What've you got all over yourself?" she asked, motioning at the mess he was wearing.

Ron looked down and rolled his eyes. It seemed to be the gesture of the day for their family. "Oh, that? That would be the jam from Hugo's toast."

She just stared at him for a moment. Finally, she shook her head. "Sorry?"

He just shrugged and shook his own head dismissively. "Oh, you know. Rose called him a fat head, he didn't appreciate it, he threw his breakfast at her… I was in the way."

Hermione closed her eyes and rubbed her temple, willing her head to stop before it started pounding out of her head. Her children? Were out of control.

"They've stopped fighting now," he said quickly. "I took care of it."

Hermione did not open her eyes. She knew perfectly well that Ron's idea of "taking care of it" probably consisted of bribing them with sweets and/or money if they got through the rest of the breakfast without killing each other. He was part of the reason they were so out of control- always bribing them to be good, they'd gotten to the point where they expected it. She was positive they both _hated _her, as she was the only one who ever dared to discipline them.

She said nothing. She was too tired to have that argument right now.

"This is sort of a disaster, isn't it?" Ron asked nervously, edging into the room and staring around at the mess warily.

"I _told _her to clean it," she said bitingly, kicking a stray trainer that was lying in her way as she made her way over to the closet. She wanted to scream when she opened the door. It seemed as if every single item of clothing that Rose owned was in that closet- most of it on the floor, obviously having been tossed there without being properly hung up and shut in behind closed doors so that her mother wouldn't see.

Without saying a word, Hermione marched over to the half-open trunk that sat in the middle of the room and threw it all the way open, kneeling down to rummage through it. There were plenty of books and supplies, trinkets, a hairbrush, Rose's lucky Snitch, an autographed picture of the Holyhead Harpies, and a single pair of shoes.

"_ROSE EMMELINE WEASLEY!" _she bellowed at the top of her lungs, standing up angrily. "GET YOUR-"

"I've got it!" Ron said quickly, throwing a soothing hand onto her shoulder. "Why don't you go downstairs and grab a bite to eat?"

"And walk into _that _mess?" she asked furiously, shrugging his hand off and walking to the doorway to shout again. _"ROSE! GET UP HERE RIGHT NOW!"_

Rose, even with all of her eye-rolling and "forgetfulness" when it came to chores, knew far too well to ignore her mother when she took that tone, and she came running up the stairs at full speed a second later.

She stopped at the top of the stairs and looked warily down the hallway to where her parents were standing. The look on her face told that she knew she was in trouble.

"Get over here _now." _Hermione jabbed at the place she was standing with her index finger, and Rose inched closer to her as slowly as was humanly possible.

"Yes, Mum?" she asked nervously, obviously doing her best to obey and yet to stay as far away from her mother as possible. When she got to the spot where Hermione was standing, she edged past her quickly and slipped into the room, taking safety beside her father at whom she looked imploringly.

"Did you _plan _on going to Hogwarts completely starkers??" Hermione asked ruefully, eyeing her daughter sharply. "Because I see you've remembered to pack your bloody Quidditch photos, but you haven't remembered to pack your clothes!"

"I-"

"Go naked if you want," Hermione went on speedily, "but I can guarantee you that you'll be expelled before your first day of class. Is that what you want? Do you _want _to be expelled from school??"

"No, I just-"

"Don't interrupt me when I'm talking to you!" Hermione threw her hands onto her hips and stared at her in shock. "We're supposed to be leaving this house in just a bit, and you've not even begun to get yourself ready! All you've done for the past weeks is tell us how you can do everything yourself, you don't need _our _help! Well, if it wasn't for us, you'd be off to school in nothing but your knickers, now wouldn't you?"

Rose said nothing.

"_Wouldn't you?" _Hermione repeated herself shrilly. When she was met with yet another non-response, she could hardly believe it. "Answer me when I ask you a question!"

Rose literally squealed and threw her hands into the air. "I don't know when I'm allowed to speak and when I'm not!" she snapped instantly. "You say don't answer, then you want me _to _answer… Mum, I have no idea what you want me to do!"

She said all of this very quickly and seemed to realize exactly what she'd done about three seconds too late. She silenced herself instantly and looked at her mother with huge eyes, obviously full of fear for the repercussions of her smart mouth. Then she looked up at her dad, her eyes now full of pleading for a quick save. Hermione prepared herself to tell Ron off for taking up for her, but when she eyed him, she noticed that he'd taken a very sudden and intent interest in the carpet.

There was silence all around. Rose was terrified, Ron was obviously wishing he could be anywhere else and contemplating how much of an earful he'd get if he Disapparated on the spot, and Hermione was silently counting to ten in her head.

"Pack. Your clothes," she said firmly, yet in the most controlled voice she could muster. "And clean your room," she added, drawing in a deep breath.

"Yes, ma'am," Rose said quickly, obviously thankful that she wasn't, at least thus far, being punished.

Hermione nodded. "When you're done, Dad will put your trunk in the car. Now hurry."

Rose nodded obediently and immediately hurried over to her closet and began removing her clothes. Hermione watched her for a few moments before Ron once again, placed a hand on her arm.

"I'll help her. You go get something to eat, okay?"

She was definitely not hungry, but she figured that if Ron was going to supervise the packing and the cleaning, then she should at least go check on their other child She left Rose's room and went next door to Hugo's. Without knocking, she pushed on the halfway ajar door and stuck her head into the room. His was much cleaner than Rose's, nothing littered the floor or made her cringe at its sight. For this, at least, she was thankful.

However, Hugo was nowhere in sight.

Figuring he was still downstairs, she made her way to the kitchen, preparing herself for the mess she knew would meet her. However, when she reached the kitchen, she was surprised to find no mess. Instead, she found her son standing on a kitchen chair and washing dishes in the sink.

"What're you doing?" she asked, pleasantly surprised by the sight.

Hugo turned his neck at her voice. "Oh. Dad said we had to clean the kitchen after the fight," he said, holding up a bubble-covered plate.

"Oh, he _did?" _Hermione was secretly pleased with Ron's sudden parenting skills and briefly regretted doubting him.

"Yeah, and he said if we done it, he'd give us money for sweets at the station."

She took it all back.

"If we _did _it," she corrected promptly. "And he most certainly will not."

Hugo looked at her incredulously and opened his mouth to protest. When he was met with her raised eyebrows, though, he smartly shut his mouth and turned back to his washing. Hermione watched him, bemused for a few minutes before reaching around him and turning the water off. With a flick of her wand, the dishes started washing themselves and laying out to dry. She took the rag from Hugo and set it on the counter as she lifted him out of the chair and set him back on the floor. He was nine years old but still very small for his age, quite the opposite of Rose who had inherited Ron's height and was already rather tall.

"The dishes can clean themselves," she explained, sweeping his fringe away from his eyes. "But _you _are a mess all on your own. C'mon." She motioned for him to follow her, and together they trudged back up the stairs and back to his bedroom. Hugo slipped inside while Hermione took a peek into the other room she'd recently vacated. Rose, as she had instructed, was diligently cleaning her room, straightening up the papers and clothes that littered the floor; she flashed Hermione a bright grin when she caught her eye.

After returning her daughter's gesture, Hermione followed Hugo into his room and helped him pick out something to wear for the day, her mind drifting back to her daughter as she did. She and Rose had been going head to head for awhile now, and while Hermione chalked some of it up to her daughter's newly developing hormones, she wasn't quite convinced that was all of it. Rose had a temper to match her own _and _Ron's put together, and she was extremely boisterous when it came to stating her opinion on every imaginable subject. In addition to being very opinionated, she also happened to be _extremely _smart, something she made no secret of. This fact often caused her to become the butt of many of her cousins' jokes, though she was always quick to defend herself with a fast telling off and a quick-witted jibe back in their direction. Hermione worried, though, that Rose would make herself a target at school for relentless teasing if she came across as too much of a know-it-all. When she'd voiced this concern to Ron, he'd responded with a muttered comment she hadn't _quite _caught but figured she probably didn't want to hear anyway. The last thing she wanted, obviously, was for Rose to feel embarrassed or anything less than proud of her brainpower and knowledge, but she knew firsthand that children could be very mean when it came to such things.

So she worried.

"Mum, do you think Lily can come back with us?" Hugo was pulling a clean t-shirt over his head and obviously struggling a bit with the head part, as he appeared to be quite stuck.

Hermione reached over to help him, yanking the shirt down until dark red hair popped through the neck. "I don't know, Hu," she said shrugging, as she attempted to smooth said hair down. "I guess we'll have to see if they have any plans, won't we?"

Hugo matched her shrug. "I guess."

"Hurry up and get your shoes on, okay? I'm going to check on your sister."

"Is it time to go?"

"Just about. Now hurry, hurry."

She smiled at him as he went over to his closet and started to look for his shoes. It wouldn't be too much longer until he was going to be off to Hogwarts, too. They'd be doing this all over again soon enough. The stress of this morning would be repeated, and she'd be sending the last of her children off.

She didn't want to think about it.

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"You're lucky your mum's in a good mood this morning," Ron said seriously, sitting down on his daughter's bed as she rummaged through her closet and began removing her clothing.

"_That _is a good mood?" Rose turned around and looked at him ridiculously as she folded a skirt over her arm. "Daddy, _please."_

He laughed when she rolled her eyes. "Okay," he agreed. "But regardless. You're lucky."

Rose giggled and shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, well!" A second later, she gave him a pitiful sort of look and motioned toward her closet. "Will you do this for me?"

He looked at the mess and remembered Hermione's orders that Rose pack and clean her room before leaving. He, better than anyone in the world, knew when to cross her and when not to, and he figured that this was one of those when not times. _However, _his lovely wife was currently downstairs with their son, hopefully putting some kind of food into her stomach that would transfer her mood into a more pleasant one. And what Hermione didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"Okay," he agreed. "But you have to make a promise."

Rose brightened up considerably as she bounded across the room and leapt into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck as she beamed up at him. _"Deal!"_

"Be good when you get to school," he said seriously. "Mum's a worried mess, and the last thing you want is her having kittens over letters from the school."

Rose sighed. "I'm sure it'll be _fine," _she said dramatically.

"So no trouble, right?"

She shook her head. "No trouble."

"That's why you're my favorite," he joked, gently prodding her off his lap as he stood up. He waved his wand in the direction of her closet, and all of her clothes began folding and packing themselves neatly into her open trunk. "And be nice to her this morning, too," he added, watching the magic work itself. "She's very stressed over all this."

"_She's _stressed?" Rose asked incredulously, placing her hands on her hips and looking at him in disbelief. "_I'm _the one starting school. _I'm _the one who has to go live with _James Potter _for the next nine months."

Ron snorted, despite the fact that he knew Rose was being very serious. It amused him that the one thing she was dreading most about school was spending the year with her cousin. Of course, there was no secret about the feelings James and Rose shared for each other. They'd been clashing since Rose had learned how to speak. In fact, her first word, _"NO!" _had been directed at James after he'd attempted to steal a half-eaten biscuit from her when she was just nine months old.

They were just very, _very _different children.

Rose was outspoken and smart and very opinionated, not to mention a fair bit bossy with a twinge of a mild superiority complex. James, coincidentally, was also extremely opinionated, and the two of them butted heads on a regular basis. James, on the contrary to Rose's seriousness, was quite the prankster and jokester and got on best with his cousin Fred. Together, they were very much the epitome of trouble, and they took great delight in torturing Rose and James' own little brother Al.

"You'll be fine," Ron assured her. "Al'll be there, too. So I wouldn't worry about Jamie too much, the two of you can take him on, can't you?"

Al and Rose happened to get on quite well, despite their blatantly opposite personalities. Al was quiet and somewhat shy. Ginny had once termed him as "the nervous one," and the label fit. He seemed to live in a constant state of worry- over what, none of the adults could understand or figure out. That was just Al. Rose, though, was _fiercely _protective over him, much more so than she was over her own brother. They were quite sweet, actually, the pair of them. They were so often on the receiving end of bullying that they had learned to stick together when they were quite young.

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, who knows? Al's been worrying for weeks he's going to be in Slytherin. Wouldn't that be mad?"

"I highly doubt he'll be a Slytherin," Ron said knowingly. "Salazar Slytherin himself would probably rise from the grave to prevent that from happening. Having Harry Potter's son in his house."

"Dad, people can't _rise from the grave _for anything," she responded immediately. "At least not in human form. And anyway, Salazar Slytherin happened to love having students with well-known parents in his house. I know because _Hogwarts, A History _has an entire chapter on descendants of famous Slytherins."

Ron winced and shook his head. "I _know _people can't rise from the grave, Rosie. It's called a joke, but thanks for the lesson. And please, please don't go round quoting that bloody book once you get to school."

He heard a noise from below and hid his wand quickly and sat down innocently on Rose's bed, all the magic in the room ceasing. "At least pretend to be cleaning," he whispered hurriedly, and Rose obeyed, dropping to her knees and pretending to straighten up some of the mess on the floor. A moment later, Hermione peeked in the door. Rose looked up and smiled at her sweetly, a gesture which her mother returned before ducking off into Hugo's room.

The second she was gone, Rose stopped cleaning, and Ron set the wand back to do all the work.

"What's wrong with _Hogwarts, A History _then?" she asked smartly. "It's a very interesting book. I know _you _never read it, but Mum says that's just because you're lazy." He didn't have time to feel offended, as she carried right on. "It _should _be pre-Hogwarts required reading, but even still, I'm sure most people read it anyway."

"No, love," he said seriously. "They don't."

Rose just rolled her eyes, something she did quite frequently these days. She seemed to be contemplating whether it was worth her time to try and convince him otherwise. She rightly decided that it was, in fact, pointless and instead turned her attention to the neat stacks of clothes now piled into her trunk. "D'you think I ought to wear my robes straight away? That way I don't have to change later. I'm sure that's probably a pain."

He just shook his head. "If you want," he said, shrugging. "It's not that big of a deal to change, though." He didn't want to tell her that she would be pegged automatically as a swot if she showed up in full school attire before the train was even boarded. He had a sinking feeling that she was going to be branded with that title soon enough anyway, though he didn't know quite how to warn her of this without flat telling her not to raise her hand in class. Preferably ever. And especially to never wave it around and make strained oohing sounds as if the answer was literally going to burst out of her. And to never, ever remind the teachers otherwise if they forgot to give out homework.

However, she was nothing if not her mother's daughter.

So he figured any and all of these warnings would simply fall on deaf ears.

He was right. Rose reached for a set of freshly-pressed robes and laid them out neatly on her newly-made bed. "I think I'll go ahead and wear them," she said thoughtfully. "I want to finish _A Standard Book of Spells, Year Two, _and that way I can make sure I have plenty of time."

"Rose, you do know you're only going to be a first year, right?"

She just rolled her eyes. "Yes, Dad. But I already read the first year's book."

Oh, yes. Hermione's spawn.

Almost as if on cue, Hermione once again appeared in the doorway of Rose's bedroom, Hugo in tow. He was dressed in new clothes now, the ones he'd worn to the breakfast food fight earlier that morning probably lying in a pile for the wash.

"You 'bout ready?" Hermione asked, glancing around the room to see it now in total order. Ron was thankful that the last shirt had folded itself seconds before Hermione's appearance, knowing he would never have heard the end of it if she'd walked in to find him doing Rose's work for her.

"I think so," he said, following her gaze to make sure everything was in place.

Rose was still eyeing her now-packed wardrobe. "Mum, do you think I should wear my robes already?"

Hermione, seemingly over the earlier rift with her daughter, smiled and dropped to her knees beside the trunk for the second time that morning. She pulled out a set of school robes and handed them over to Rose. "I think that's a great idea."

Just alike, those two… Just alike.

Twenty minutes later, after the car was loaded with the trunk and Rose's new pet owl Juliet, Ron and Hermione were having an argument over who should drive.

"I'm just not sure you're experienced enough to be driving in London, Ron," Hermione said in what she obviously thought was a gentle voice that actually came across as condescending.

"I'm _fine," _he retorted back haughtily, ignoring the look she was giving him. It was true, too. He'd taken his test in London and passed just fine. And he hadn't even had to Confound the examiner bloke at all until the very end bit where he tallied up the scores.

"But-"

"Oh, I'm glad you've got so much confidence in me!"

"Oh, _fine!" _She rolled her eyes and flung open the door for the backseat. She ushered Rose and Hugo in and then went about buckling them and checking… and _rechecking _to make sure the belts were holding tight. Once she was satisfied that the children would not be flying out of the car anytime soon, she pulled out her wand and waved it around.

"What are you doing?" he asked, shutting the door to the car so that Rose and Hugo could not hear.

"I'm setting a repelling charm," she answered simply, tucking her wand back into her jacket promptly. "That way if another car gets within half a yard, it'll automatically be kept away."

Ron stared at her, opening his mouth to tell her that perhaps _he _wouldn't be getting anywhere within half a yard of _her _anytime soon, but the look on her face caused him to smartly close his mouth just as quickly.

"I'm simply looking out for our children," she snapped, effectively cutting him off before he had a chance to protest or attempt a self-defense. "What if there was an accident? Do you _want _your daughter going off to school all banged up?"

"Yes, Hermione, that's _exactly _what I want. Didn't you know?"

"Oh, shut up." She crossed her arms over her chest and fixed him with a stern glare he'd been on the receiving end of for many, many years.

He was ready to retort and commend her on such a brilliant comeback, but a glance at Rose looking desperately at her watch from inside the car stopped him. Truthfully, it was getting a tad bit on the tight side as far as time went, and he didn't think he'd forgive himself if she was late to the train on her first day.

Hermione seemed to read his mind and motioned toward the car. "We need to hurry," she said simply, and he nodded.

He did not open the door for her.

_Twelve Ways to Charm Witches _be damned.

"Are you sure you know how to drive this thing, Daddy?" Rose asked cautiously as her parents slid into their respective seats in the front.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Yes, Rose," he said pointedly. "Contrary to what your mother, and apparently you, might believe, I've been driving one of these since I was just a little kid."

Hermione rolled her eyes

"Yeah, right." And Rose rolled her own eyes and sat back in her seat as he started the car. Sometimes the pair of them together was just too much.

"It's true," he insisted, looking over his shoulder to make sure there were no elderly people, children, animals, other cars, mailboxes, or telephone poles behind him before he backed down the driveway and turned into the street. "And not only did it drive, it _flew."_

"_Wicked!" _Hugo was the only one who seemed impressed, but he was _so _impressed that it all but made up for the rest. Ron was grateful and briefly thought about how amusing it was going to be for the men to outnumber the women in the house once Rose was off to school.

Ha.

"You had a flying _car?" _Rose, unlike her brother, not only seemed unimpressed, she didn't even seem as if she believed him at all.

"Yes. A flying car," he repeated. "We even used it to rescue Harry once. When he was staying with those Muggles."

"Rescue him?" Rose was so skeptical, it was almost humorous. "What'd you do? Back up to his bedroom window and load his trunk mid-air?"

"Yes, actually."

"_Bloody hell!" _Hugo, once again, seemed impressed enough for the entire car. However, Hermione's head whipped around the seat so quickly in response to his enthusiasm that he seemed to cower on the spot. "Sorry, Mum," he muttered quickly, his eyes falling down to his lap. Ron glanced in the rearview mirror and saw him cowering into the corner, almost as if he were afraid she was going to come over the seat and wallop him right there.

Instead, she just turned her glare to Ron. "Do you _see _what happens? When you use all that filthy language, the children pick it up and think there's nothing wrong with it!"

"Right," he said, nodding as he turned down a side road. "All that language is me. Right."

He was quite positive she was going to wallop _him _at any moment. She had a lot less distance to cover.

Rose, seemingly uninterested in the arguing over language between her parents and brother, skipped back to the subject at hand. "_Who_ rescued Uncle Harry?"

"The twins and me." Ron was glad to change the subject and escape his wife's evil glare.

Hugo spoke up again, obviously feeling on the safe side now. "Why didn't you rescue Mum, too, then? She was with Muggles, too."

Hermione looked at Ron incredulously, and he hurried to answer his son's question before they were both subjected to a lecture that lasted the entire car ride. "We didn't rescue Harry because he was with _Muggles," _he said hurriedly. "We rescued him because they were awful people, mean to him, that kind of thing. Not _because_ they were Muggles."

"Yes," Hermione said sternly, turning once again to fix Hugo with a look that left him cowering. "There is nothing wrong with Muggles. And don't ever let me hear you insinuate anything like that ever again, understand?"

"But I-"

She cut him off. "_Understand?"_

Hugo sighed softly. "Yes, Mum."

"Good," she said firmly. "Grandmum and Granddad would be very hurt to hear you say such things."

Guilt was written all over Hugo's face. "I didn't mean it like that," he said softly.

Ron felt sorry for him, and gave him a quick wink in the rearview. "Don't worry about it, mate," he said shrugging. "It's my fault. I worded it wrong s'all." Hugo gave him a grateful half-smile in the mirror, and Ron cleared his throat and went on with the story. "Anyway, though, _yes, _the car flew. And I operated it myself when I was only about twelve years old. So I can assure you I'm more than qualified to operate _this _automobile."

"Oh, why don't you tell them exactly _how _you operated it when you were twelve?" Hermione asked snootily, crossing her arms and fixing him with an expectant look.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "Fine," he answered smoothly. "Fine, yes, Harry and I flew the car to Hogwarts once. Missed the train, y'know?" He refused, absolutely _refused _to back down from the game she was trying to play.

Both of the children straightened up a bit at this revelation. He glimpsed them in the mirror and saw that Rose looked conflicted, almost as if she didn't want to believe him but altogether too interested for her own good. Hugo looked so eager to hear more that he was practically getting out of his seat in excitement.

"I thought," Rose said slowly, clearly trying to be logical, "that if you missed the train, your parents had to bring you to Hogwarts themselves."

"That's correct," Hermione answered. "However, your _father _never bothered to even _learn _the rules, much less follow them."

"Excuse me," he cut in, "but Harry was there the entire time, so I'm not sure how all of this gets put on _me, _but regardless-"

"Because I'm quite sure it wasn't Harry's brilliant idea to use a _flying car _in front of thousands of Muggles to try to catch a train speeding North to an otherwise undisclosed location!"

The car was silent for a few seconds as both the kids looked on eagerly and Ron took a second to gather his defense. He didn't come up with much.

"Well, he didn't have any better idea! And he went along with it."

"Harry went along with _everything, _Ron," she said incredulously. "He always did."

That was not entirely true, and he was going to tell her so, but Hugo obviously had other ideas about what he wanted to hear. "So when you landed at school, it was pretty cool, huh?"

Hermione snorted.

Ron wanted to hex her mouth shut.

He did not, however, he simply ran a hand through his hair and pondered the question. "Well… we didn't so much as _land _exactly as-"

"As crash into a tree," Hermione finished.

He sent her a side-glare, and she simply raised her eyebrows in response.

"_Crashed into a tree?" _Rose asked in disbelief. And then she burst into laughter.

"It wasn't just _any _tree," he said defensively, shooting his wife a spiteful glare. "It was the Whomping Willow. And there was nothing we could do about it anyway, the car was going of its own accord really."

"The Whomping Willow?" Hugo asked. "What's that?"

"Apparently it's a willow that whomps!" Rose answered her brother, still roaring with laughter.

"Actually," Ron said, shooting his daughter the same spiteful glare her mother had received seconds earlier, "that's exactly what it is. And laugh all you want, but I hope you never find yourself faced with that thing because I can assure you it's quite unpleasant."

Rose was practically keeling over with laughter.

The rest of the car ride was spent alternating between the parents' stories of the Whomping Willow and the children either cracking up or flinching in response to details. Ron felt as though he spent the entire time defending himself and was quite glad when they reached King's Cross. He parked with relative ease, despite Hermione's nagging that he was going to be too crooked in the space and should back up and try again.

It was a little past 10:40 when they reached the transition to Platform 9 ¾, and Ron found himself facing the barrier with his wife and children for the first time in many years.

"So, all I do is just walk at it and it just disappears, right?" Hugo was very clearly worried about the impending trip through the wall, and he was gripping Hermione's hand nervously, looking up at her for some kind of reassurance.

"That's right," she said, nodding encouragingly. "You won't even notice it, I promise."

Hugo did not look convinced.

Rose, on the other hand, seemed quite confident in her ability to cross to the other side with no problems. "Oh, stop being so stupid. It's easy," she said shrugging. "Here, watch me."

And with that, she took hold of the cart holding her trunk and owl and walked straight at the wall, a very determined look on her face. She disappeared a second later.

Hugo seemed more scared than ever.

Hermione glanced at Ron over the top of their son's head and communicated with him wordlessly. Ron nodded, understanding her perfectly. He knelt down beside Hugo and placed a comforting hand on his back.

"Look, mate. How about if we all go through together? You, Mum, and me? Then you won't have to worry because we'll help you, right?"

"But what if it doesn't let us through?" Hugo was studying his trainers intently as he mumbled the question.

"It will, though," Ron assured him. "Promise."

"Swear?"

"Swear." He grinned at him. "And we can't leave Rosie over there all by herself, can we?"

"Yeah," Hugo said seriously. "We can." Ron looked at him, and Hugo just shrugged. "Well, she's the one who says she can do everything all on her own, what does it matter?"

"You don't want to tell your sister goodbye?"

Hugo shook his head. "No. Not really at all."

Ron fought the grin that was threatening to play on his lips. He figured his wife wouldn't appreciate him encouraging such thoughts, but when he glanced up at her, he noticed that she, too, seemed to be fighting a similar reaction.

"Well," Ron said slowly. "Even still, don't you want to see everyone else?"

"Lily," Hugo conceded quietly.

"Well, I bet Lily's over there right now. We should probably go see her, huh?"

Hugo shrugged again, but he took his father's offered hand anyway.

"We'll go on three, okay?" Ron said as he stood back up. "Ready?" Hermione nodded and sent him a secret smile. Hugo simply looked even more worried. "One… two… three!"

The family took off at a quick pace. Or rather, the parents took off at a quick pace, practically dragging their son between them. Hugo sped up in an attempt to keep his own feet under him, and a second later, they all slipped through the barrier absolutely flawlessly.

"_Whoa!" _Hugo said breathlessly, staring at the platform around him. "I can't believe it worked."

"Told you so," Ron said simply, shooting Hermione another quick grin. "Now we've got to find your sister."

Platform 9 ¾ was crowded with children and their parents, all bustling around and saying their good-byes to each other as they boarded the train and loaded all of their belongings. It was a familiar sight for Ron who couldn't help but feel a little envious of all the kids going off to Hogwarts. Despite all the exams and arguments and dangers and giant spiders, Hogwarts really had been the best time of his life. He'd grown up there, gotten into plenty of trouble, met his best friends, fallen in love. Things were just simpler… even with all the awful stuff they'd been facing.

"There she is," Hermione cut into his reminiscing as she pointed to the left of them where Rose was standing with Percy and his wife. She looked thoroughly unpleasant, and Ron could just imagine her attempting to and failing at dodging them.

"We should go rescue her," he said seriously.

"_Ron," _Hermione hissed admonishingly, jerking her head at Hugo in a gesture that was obviously meant to tell him not to say anything negative about any of their children's aunts or uncles while those little ears were in the vicinity.

Ron, though, could not have cared less. He shrugged dismissively and hurried across the platform to save his daughter. She practically jumped into his arms when he showed up by her side, latching onto him in a ridiculously tight hug.

"Oh, Ron," Percy glanced at him as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "How are things?"

"Alright," he answered shrugging. "You? Things going well at the office?"

Percy, who worked for a private editing company, nodded resolutely. "Oh, yes. Busy, of course."

"Of course."

Ron had always had trouble making small talk with Percy. They were so different and had so very little in common that coming up with something to say was just about impossible.

"Rose says she's excited for school," Percy spoke up, changing the subject quickly.

Ron nodded. "Oh, yes. She's very excited." He smoothed a hand over Rose's hair as she was still wrapped around him tightly. "Where's Polly?" Polly, Percy's only child, would be a Fifth Year.

"Oh, she's helping out by the train. She's a Prefect," he said, smiling proudly.

"Oh, really?" Ron fought the urge to roll his eyes. "That's excellent." Percy nodded, still beaming. Seeing an escape, Ron untangled his daughter from around him and said, "Well, we better head back before we lose Mum, huh?"

Rose nodded eagerly.

"Tell Polly congratulations for me, will you?" Percy nodded, and Ron turned his head to the left to address his wife. "Nice seeing you, Penny." She just smiled shyly in response; after all these years with the family, she still had trouble conversing with any of them. "And see you next weekend?" he asked his brother, referring to their father's birthday.

Percy nodded as well. "Of course."

"Okay. Well, we'll talk to you later." He nudged Rose just slightly, and she begrudgingly told her aunt and uncle good-bye before taking her father's hand and following him quickly back over to where the rest of their family was.

"How was _that?" _Hugo asked, smirking ridiculously, obviously pleased about the fact that his sister had been forced to endure the most boring of their relatives.

Rose dropped Ron's hand immediately and shoved Hugo so that he went stumbling backwards right into Hermione. "Shut up, stupid," she said haughtily.

"Hey!" Hermione said sharply, steadying one child while looking pointedly at the other.

Rose took the one word warning and did not touch her brother again, although she did glare at him hatefully.

"Hey, look!" Hugo said breathlessly, pointing down the platform a bit. The entire family turned to see Harry, Ginny, and their two youngest children bustling toward them. "Where's Jamie?" Hugo was on his tip-toes in an attempt to spot his missing cousin.

"Hopefully dead," Rose deadpanned. At this, Hermione finally gave her the smack upside the head she'd been deserving all morning. Rose reached up to sooth the spot and quickly added. "Or maybe just too sick to come to school."

"Hi!" Al bounded right up to Rose, and they grinned at each other. Ron could tell that despite the current smile on his face, Al was nervous about something. He figured it was just normal first day of school jitters.

"Parked all right, then?" he asked Harry who looked as tired as he felt. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you?" Hermione looked at him out of the corner of her eye as she hugged Lily who had wrapped herself around her almost immediately. "She thought I'd have to Confound the examiner."

Hermione just shook her head and rolled her eyes playfully at Lily who giggled. "No, I didn't," she answered, now looking straight at Ron. "I had complete faith in you."

This was a complete and outright lie, but he said nothing. Instead, he busied himself with helping Harry load the trunks and owls onto the train. When they were out of earshot, he confessed that he _had, _in fact, Confounded the examiner. But just barely

The Hogwarts Express looked exactly the same as he remembered it looking all those years ago. Ron was once again hit with the nostalgic feeling he'd experienced upon breaking through the barrier.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Harry asked, reading his thoughts. "All of this."

Ron nodded and glanced back to where Hermione and Ginny were standing with the children. "Rose is going insane, I think."

Harry shook his head. "Al's scared to death he's going to be in Slytherin."

Ron smiled. "Yeah. Rose told me. What the hell gave him that idea anyway?"

"One guess," Harry said ruefully.

"James."

"James," Harry nodded.

"Where is he anyway?"

Harry shrugged as they started back across the platform. "He took off through the barrier when we got here, showing off, of course. Haven't seen him since."

They rejoined their families to find Lily and Hugo discussing which houses they'd be in when they were finally allowed to go to Hogwarts. Hugo joked that Lily would probably be in Slytherin with her brother, and though said brother looked extremely put out by the suggestion, Lily giggled at what she knew to be playful teasing.

Ron joined in and threatened them that if they weren't all sorted into Gryffindor they'd be disinherited. Lily and Hugo once again giggled, but Al looked like he wanted to faint. Rose, too, sent Ron a look, obviously admonishing him for scaring her favorite cousin even moreso than he already was.

It was at that moment that Ron spotted an old enemy across the platform. Draco Malfoy was standing with his wife and son, looking the same as he always had, only with slightly less hair. He still looked like the same git they'd been at war with during their own Hogwarts days, and when he pointed the family out to Harry and Hermione, they were met with a forced nod from their one-time rival.

They had seen Malfoy a few times during their post-Hogwarts days, mostly at community functions and the sort. He'd gone into business with his father not long after leaving school. It was basically staying rich by being rich- paying off the right people and such. Investing, Ron was pretty sure they called it.

"So that's little Scorpius?" he asked out loud, eyeing the child standing between Malfoy and his wife, Helene. He looked exactly like his father had twenty some-odd years ago- white blonde hair, pointed chin, gray eyes that shone all the way across the distance. Ron nudged his daughter. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

Hermione shook her head, though he could see a slight smile playing on her lips. "Ron, for heaven's sake. Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry." He couldn't help himself adding, "Don't get _too _friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

Rose looked thoroughly disgusted at the idea of marrying _anyone, _something Ron was quite pleased about. In less than a second, though, her look of disgust turned into one of loathing. James appeared seemingly out of nowhere, running up quickly and knocking into Rose hard enough to send her stumbling forward.

"Hey!" he said brightly, smirking at Rose as she straightened up and glared at him. He then burst into some story about Teddy and Victorie that seemed far more interesting to him than it did to anyone else. In fact, it was no surprise really, as the two teenagers had been quietly flirting with each other for ages now.

The whistle on the train blew, and all the kids started looking anxious. A round of hugs went round to everyone. Rose hugged Ginny first and then Harry. She bent down and hugged Lily who now looked as if she were going to burst into tears, the reality that she was about to be the last of her siblings left at home seeming to hit her harshly.

"Don't worry, Lil," she said seriously. "It'll be okay. And we'll write you all the time, won't we?" She nudged Al who nodded distractedly as he watched his older brother saying good-bye to their parents.

Lily wasn't the only one who looked close to tears. Hermione suddenly looked absolutely devastated, and Ron watched as Rose noticed this, too. They hugged tightly, and Rose nodded as Hermione whispered unheard things into her ear. After a moment, Hermione ran a hand over Rose's hair trying unsuccessfully to tame it even just a little, and they pulled apart.

It was Ron's turn then, as Hermione went to hug James before he jumped onto the train by himself. "You be good, okay?" Ron asked, bending down to Rose's level to look her in the eye. She nodded, and he could see she was finally starting to take in the fact that she was leaving. He lowered his voice so that only she could hear him. "And I meant what I said about beating that Scorpius prat at all the tests, by the way."

Rose giggled. "How do you know he's a prat?"

"I just do," he said seriously. "Trust me. But you'll be smarter than him anyway." Rose giggled again. "And I meant what I said about not getting too friendly, too. No boys, okay?"

She rolled her eyes, all brown and just like her mother's. "What about just friend boys?"

He shook his head. "Friend boys turn into boyfriends. Ask your mother." Rose laughed, and he repeated his earlier insistence. "No boys, right?"

"No boys," she agreed dramatically.

"Oh, and if Hagrid invites you into the Forbidden Forest, find out _exactly _what he wants to show you before you agree, got it?" She nodded, though she looked a little confused. "And stay away from the Whomping Willow!"

Rose laughed and kissed him on the cheek before wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "Bye, Daddy."

He hugged her tightly, knowing he wouldn't see her again for several months, knowing that the next time he saw her, she'd have already started growing up.

He let go of her a few minutes later, and she looked warily at her brother, as though deciding whether he deserved a good-bye or not.

"Bye, _Huey," _she said sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest.

He looked back at her with an almost identical look. "Bye, _Rosebud."_

They stared at each other for another few seconds before Rose finally rolled her eyes and pulled him into a half-hug, slinging a single arm over his shoulder and pulling him nearer. It was a small gesture, not even a full hug, but it made Hermione's tears finally spill over.

She pulled them both to her, hugging them tightly. Ron tried not to laugh as Hugo struggled to free himself. "_Mum," _he hissed, looking around embarrassedly, "I'm not even going anywhere!"

She nodded and wiped her eyes before kissing Rose on the cheek and giving her one last hug. Rose turned around and hugged Ron once again quickly before waving and pulling herself onto the train. She turned around once she was safely boarded and waited patiently for Al to finish saying his own goodbyes. When both children were finally on the train, Ginny closed the compartment door behind them, and they hung out of the window with the rest of their new classmates.

It was no surprise that several pairs of eyes drifted and rested on Harry. After all these years, he still couldn't go into public without having people stare at him. They were all used to it by now, of course, and Ron made a fleeting joke about it being himself that the people were goggling at. Everyone laughed, and the train started to pull away.

He realized fully that this was it. His little girl was off to school, headed off to Hogwarts to start her own adventures. He hoped, of course, that her years wouldn't be _quite _as eventful as his own had been, but he did hope that she had fun and learned everything she could. He was worried about her as any parent would worry, but he knew deep down that everything was fine. Rose was fine. James and Al were fine. So were all the rest of his nieces and nephews who were currently boarded onto the Hogwarts Express and bound for another year of school.

He glanced at Hermione who still looked rather pitiful, though, Hugo was allowing her to hug him, this time without struggling to get away. He walked over to them, and Hermione gave him a very sad sort of smile. He pulled her into a hug, and he felt her give a little sob. She would be okay, too, though. They would all be okay.

They'd all been okay for a very long time now.

This was nothing but a new beginning.

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So. I know that was long, but I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope you had fun reading it. I've got an idea for an actual story from here out, focusing some on the kids and some on the adults. I'd love to write it if anyone's interested in reading it. Please leave feedback and let me know!


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